Rock, Paper, Shotgun

From the beginning of its inception, Yakuza was a game made for the adult male audience in Japan. It’s a point that its creators have previously brought up when interviewed about the games.

Yet, as the entire mainline series is finally available on PC, Yakuza has become an international hit for Sega, and I’m thrilled that many new converts and some of the most vocal cheerleaders are women. Coming to the latest entry, Yakuza: Like A Dragon (LAD for short), there are a lot of drastic changes to the formula, from new protagonist Ichiban to a turn-based JRPG battle system - but one notable shift is its relationship with women.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

It's been a little while since Call Of Duty: Warzone Season 3 nuked Verdansk into the 1980s, and we've had time to get used to the two new weapons. They're both okay bits of kit, but haven't had a huge impact on the meta. So it's good to know that there's a new gun dropping tonight that'll likely shake things up nicely.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

We're but a mere eight days away from the release of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. In writing that, it's just dawned on me how close I am to seeing my hi-res alien pals and bombing around in the improved Mako. To tide fans over until the remaster's launch, BioWare have released a free content package containing loads of Mass Effect's iconic music, as well as digital art books and comics. They've also created an online tool that lets you select your favourite squadmates to make some personalised cover art.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Outriders launched with some of the worst bugs imaginable for a looter shooter, leaving some players unable to connect to the game and others with loot being lost from their inventory. After weeks of testing, developer People Can Fly have finally released an update to redress the problems. Though they can’t guarantee a complete restoration of items to those affected, they're promising to return the most valuable items plundered by the evil bug.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

It’s the science fiction fan’s equivalent of “what’s the deal with airline food” to point out that nobody on Star Trek ever seems to take a dump, but it’s still an observation worth making, from time to time. Space is an offensively difficult place for humans to live, after all - if we want to survive there, there’s a dizzying number of biological needs we have to cater to. And that includes wee and poo. As unheroic as toilets might seem, it’s chilling to think how grim a space habitat would become, and how quickly, without them. I salute Space Haven, then - an early access “colony sim” in a similar vein to Rimworld - for making bogs mandatory, aboard whichever ship you choose to construct with your crew of deep space oafs.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The list of lovely looking action-y games I was looking forward to this month took a big hit when Deathloop got delayed, but thank goodness action cat RPG Biomutant is still coming. I'd worry that I've jinxed it now, but today's new gameplay and character creator videos have me feeling pretty confident that Expreiment 101 aren't going to pull a last-minute emergency delay. Biomutant still looks slick as heck and it's launching later this month.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Microsoft's Game Pass Ultimate service is a great way to unlock over a hundred games for PC and Xbox, and current subscribers can now pick up a four-month subscription for just £20 / $30 - which is £13 / $15 less than the list price for a three-month> sub. Here's how it works.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Late last month, Humble Bundle announced that they would be removing the sliders from their store that let customers choose how much of a purchase would go to charity. It effectively capped the possible charitable percentage to 15%, which was certainly an odd choice for a storefront whose main appeal is giving to charity. Customers and developers promptly expressed disapproval of that decision, so now Humble are rolling back that change and will be "exploring different approaches to the sliders and how splits work".

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Ebay are running one of their perennial 20% off promotions at the moment, making it a good time to get games, peripherals or PC hardware below the normal going rate.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Turn-based spell slinging game Tactical Breach Wizards is summoning another beta test that you may be able to get yourself access to. Even if you don't, there's a nice chunk of updated tactical magic fights to see in the new trailer. I still rather enjoy the slapstick quality of wizards who, armed with all sorts of magical spells, will result to hurling baddies out of windows. It's looking neat as ever.

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